National Novel Writing Month lands in November. I think everyone that wants to be a writer should try it out as it will teach you so much.
1. How to turn off your internal editor - We often over think our writing and it slows us down or even trips us up so we don't write at all. When you are on a deadline and rushed like you are in Nanowrimo you don't have the chance to let your internal editor have a voice.
2. Learn how to write faster - Having to write on average over a thousand words each day it can teach you how to write faster.
One of the things that I like is that Nanowrimo can fit pansters and planners (people who write from the seat of their pants or plan everything out.) This post is mostly for the planners. Nanowrimo is just over a month away. Now is the time to plan.
Here are a couple of different ways to plan out your story.
I do this one but just in my head as I am more of a pantser. You start off with your idea. Some kernel that might lead somewhere. Then you add the next thing and then the next. So it kind of spreads out and looks like a complicated snowflake as you add bits.
I actually don't recommend this one but it is taught in a lot of school. I blame Stephen King for that. This has a defined structure and you add your details to it.
When someone tells you a story should have a beginning, middle and an end this is what they are talking about.
From Save the Cat and other books you can find a beats sheet that works for your genre. This one is flexible and when you read authors that publish dozens of books they have created their own beat sheet.
Some other things to think about as you plan for Nanowrimo some other things to think about.
2. Characters
3. Themes
I will be posting things during Nanowrimo about writing.
